MADRID—Political and economic turmoil in some of
Inditex SA's
ITX 0.25%
high-growth markets pressured profit and sales in the first half, reflecting a downside to the retail giant's aggressive expansion into Asia and Eastern Europe.

The parent company of the Zara chain said net profit fell 2.4% to €928 million ($1.2 billion) between Feb. 1 and July 31, from €951 million a year earlier, slightly ahead of market expectations. Inditex, the largest fashion company in the world by sales, said revenue grew 5.6% to €8.09 billion.

In Russia, Inditex's third-largest market, diplomatic and economic tension with Europe has been rising since Russia's forceful intervention in Ukraine. Gains by Islamic State fighters have unsettled the Middle East, another big market. Currencies in both areas have depreciated against the euro, cutting into Inditex's income, even as sales in local currencies continued to grow. The company, which owns eight brands, including Bershka and Massimo Dutti, said falling currencies shaved 4 percentage points off overall sales growth in the first half.

The retailer, based in northwestern Spain, is one of many European companies slated to benefit from European Central Bank Governor Mario Draghi's recent efforts to depreciate the euro currency. Still, Chairman and Chief Executive Pablo Isla said that the company expects currency depreciation to result in a 3% reduction in sales growth for the full year.

"This is something we monitor, but we are not obsessed with the evolution of currencies in any particular market," said Mr. Isla. At the end of the first half, Inditex had 6,460 stores in 88 countries on five continents. Mr. Isla said the geographic diversification means currency impacts get smoothed out over the long term.

Measured in local currencies, sales growth eased somewhat in the first weeks of the third quarter. Sales using this gauge grew 10% between Aug. 1 and Sept. 12, compared with an 11% growth rate during the first half, Inditex said.

Inditex's shares had rallied ahead of earnings amid expectations that the impact from falling currencies would soon recede and on hopes of a strong fall-winter season. The slightly softer sales growth and Mr. Isla's comments on currencies sent the stock lower Wednesday. "The lack of an appreciable improvement may frustrate some today," brokerage Jefferies wrote in a note to investors.

Mr. Isla said Inditex's revenue in Spain has resumed growth this year as consumer spending rebounds following a six-year economic slump. Spain makes up a fifth of the group's revenue, and grew at an annual clip of 6% in the first half.

Inditex outpaced rivals
Hennes & Mauritz
AB and
Gap Inc.
in recent years by increasing its footprint outside Europe, especially in fast-growing Asian economies such as China. That served the company well during years of meager consumer spending in Europe.

In addition to opening more than a store a day on average, Inditex is swiftly building out its online presence. Earlier this month it began selling Zara online in Mexico, and in coming weeks it will start selling online in South Korea and launch a virtual store front at Alibaba's online marketplace T-Mall, a shopping site that is popular in China.